Abstract
Simulation is based on the vast increase in computational power that is available to researchers. This increase, however, does not by itself characterize simulation. What philosophically matters are the conceptual ramifications. Simulation modeling combines extant concepts in a new way. It intertwines different types of experiments and in this way gives rise to a new combinatorial style of reasoning. The argument in favor of this thesis discusses two exemplars of simulation, namely thermodynamics and quantum chemistry. The conclusion reflects upon some of the resulting challenges for the philosophy of science.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
- 5.
For an elaboration of the bundle-rope argument, consult Hasse and Lenhard (2017b).
- 6.
The density itself is a function and functions of functions are often called functionals—hence the name “density functional.”
References
Barden, Christopher J., and Henry F. Schaefer III. 2000. Quantum chemistry in the 21st century. Pure and Applied Chemistry 72 (8): 1405–1423.
Dijksterhuis, Eduard Jan. 1961. The Mechanization of the World Picture. London: Oxford University Press.
Drake, Stillman, and I.E. Drabkin. 1969. Mechanics in Sixteenth-Century Italy. Selections from Tartaglia, Benedetti, Guido Ubaldo, & Galileo. Madison, Milwaukee and London: The University of Winsconsin Press.
Fox, Robert. 1996. Laplacian Physics. In Companion To the History of Modern Science, ed. Robert C. Olby et al., 278–294. London and New York: Routledge.
Gavroglu, Kostas, and Ana Simões. 2012. Neither physics nor chemistry: a history of quantum chemistry. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hacking, Ian. 1992. ‘Style’ for Historians and Philosophers. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 23 (1): 1–20.
Hasse, Hans, and Johannes Lenhard. Forthcoming 2017a. On the Role of Adjustable Parameters. In Mathematics as a Tool, ed. Johannes Lenhard and Martin Carrier. Boston Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London, New York: Springer.
Hasse, Hans, and Johannes Lenhard. Forthcoming 2017b. Fluch und Segen: Die Rolle anpassbarer Parameter in Simulationsmodellen. In Technisches Nichtwissen. Jahrbuch Technikphilosophie 2017, ed. Alexander Friedrich, Petra Gehring, Christoph Hubig, Andreas Kaminski and Alfred Nordmann, 69–84. Baden-Baden: Nomos.
Hohenberg, P., and W. Kohn. 1964. Inhomogeneous electron gas. Physical Review 136 (3B): B864–B871.
Humphreys, Paul. 2012. Computational Science. In Oxford Bibliographies Online. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396577/obo-9780195396577-0100.xml. Accessed 26 September 2012.
Kohn, W., and L. J. Sham. 1965. Self-consistent equations including exchange and correlation effects. Physical Review 140 (4A): A1133–A1138.
Koyré, Alexandre. 1968. Metaphysics and Measurement: Essays in the Scientific Revolution. London: Chapman and Hill.
Laplace, Pierre Simon. 1902. A philosophical essay on probabilities. Trans. Frederick Wilson Truscott and Frederick Lincoln Emory. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Lenhard, Johannes. 2014. Disciplines, Models, and Computers: The Path To Computational Quantum Chemistry. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 48: 89–96.
Lenhard, Johannes. 2015. Mit allem rechnen – zur Philosophie der Computersimulation. Berlin: de Gruyter.
Lenhard, Johannes. 2016. Computer Simulation. In Oxford Handbook in the Philosophy of Science, ed. Paul Humphreys, 717–737. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Merz, Martina. 2006. Locating the Dry Lab on the Lab Map. In Simulation: Pragmatic Construction of Reality, ed. Johannes Lenhard, Günter Küppers and Terry Shinn, 155–172. Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook, vol. 25. Dordrecht: Springer.
Morrison, Margaret. 2015. Reconstructing Reality. Models, Mathematics, and Simulations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Nye, M. J. 1993. From chemical philosophy to theoretical chemistry . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Parker, Wendy S. 2013. Computer Simulation. In The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Science, ed. Stathis Psillos and Martin Curd, 135–145. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge.
Winsberg, Eric. 2010. Science in the Age of Computer Simulation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Winsberg, Eric. 2014. Computer Simulations in Science. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2014 Edition), ed. Edward N. Zalta. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2014/entries/simulations-science/. Accessed 18 January 2017.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Lenhard, J. (2017). The Demon’s Fallacy: Simulation Modeling and a New Style of Reasoning. In: Resch, M., Kaminski, A., Gehring, P. (eds) The Science and Art of Simulation I . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55762-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55762-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55761-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55762-5
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)